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Clinical Chemistry
122
C l i n i c a l Chemistry by R Richterich and J P Colombo. pp 766. John Wiley, Chichester. 1981. £31.50. First English edition (4th German edition - Karger, Basel, 1978). ISBN 0-471-27809-2
Practical Clinical Biochemistry, Volume 1 by H Varley, A H Gowenlock and M Bell. pp 1277. Heinemann, London. 1980. Varley's book of Clinical Biochemistry, first published in 1954 and now in its fifth edition, is the mainstay of generations of British chemical pathologists and the pilot boat of those who would work at the 'mucky end' of biochemistry. It is therefore a bold challenge to publish, in English translation, a Swiss book which has been successful in four German editions. Richterich and Colombo's book is more modest in size (766 pages) than Varley, Gowenlock and Bell (1277 pages in Volume 1), although the topics covered are broadly equivalent. The Swiss text is more concise but essentially didactic: the presentation is uniformly clear and brief but there is a tendency towards dogmatism which may not be readily accepted by British students (for example, "All other results should be ignored", p 292). There are also a number of mistranslations which may be found confusing: eg 'endocrinopathia', 'hypothyrosis', 'haemiglobin', 'ostitis'. On the other hand, the presentation of principles of a variety of techniques is much more clearly expressed in the diagrams of Richterich and Colombo than in the text of Varley et al. Both books are comprehensive and their dominance of home markets is assured, but the timeliness of the Swiss book is perhaps impaired by the delay of the translation process. Varley et al is more up to date and comprehensive on such techniques as EMIT (though indexed wrongly), ELISA and automated methods. However, it is noticeable that both books have a relative paucity of recent references and this may reflect either a slow rate of change of the subject matter or, more likely, the length of time required to prepare the manuscripts for such large volumes. Unfortunately this has allowed some enshrined methods still to be included when they might with value be placed on a list with a 'government health warning'. Although both books have useful sections on quality control, all important to the running of a clinical laboratory, I found the description of the Swiss quality control system to be unnecessarily brief and in part confusing. Both have comprehensive sections on statistics. At a point much closer to the patient, both books describe techniques for the taking and storage of various samples, although the Swiss version is much clearer and it discusses in detail the role of the variety of anticoagulants. In contrast, the discussion by Richterich and Colombo of differential tests in diagnosis of liver disease is less than adequate for an understanding of the disease process and perhaps this is symptomatic of the Swiss book which is generally more concerned with methods than with interpretation of results. In summary, perhaps a fair description is that Richterich and Colombo have produced a comprehensive book in English concerned with laboratory clinical chemistry: for the biochemistry and chemical pathology one might still need to refer to Varley. N J Birch Department of Biological Science The Polytechnic, Wolverhampton
Membrane Structure Edited by J B Finean and R H Michell. pp 275. Elsevier/ North-Holland Biomedical Press, Amsterdam. 1980. Dfl 140. ISBN 0-444-80304-1 This volume is one of the first of a series entitled 'New Comprehensive Biochemistry' which presumably will attempt to cover in considerable detail major areas of biochemical research. In the publishers' words, it is intended to form a fundamental reference work in biochemistry. With those BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION
10(3) 1982
thoughts in mind it is a little surprising that volumes dealing with membrane structure (Vol 1) and membrane transport (Vol 2) should be the first produced. These are such quickly moving, not to mention controversial, areas that the publishers run the risk of being out of date without ever reaching the stage of being a 'fundamental reference work' - and I have to confess that there is evidence already of such a process occurring. The first chapter (by the editors Finean and Michell) gives a general overview of membrane structure and isolation together with a good potted history of the evolution of our current ideas. Although one wonders as to its necessity in such an advanced text, the authors nevertheless largely succeed. Already there are instances, however, of events and ideas overtaking the text. One hopes that this, rather than incomplete knowledge of the subject, is the explanation for some of the errors. Chapter 2 by M Edidin discusses the really novel feature of current concepts in membrane structure, namely fluidity. Methodological aspects are treated fairly thoroughly, but readably. Some readers may find, however, that the biological results and implications are perhaps not given their true weight. Membrane asymmetry is comprehensively described by J A F o p den Kamp. Both prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems are discussed and there are serious attempts to relate observations to the biology of the system. The specific instance of such asymmetry, glycosylation, is the subject of a balanced contribution by C Gamberg, who does not shirk from tackling the question of the true role for such processes. It is a pity that the biosynthetic aspects particularly as regard selection and control are considered to be outside the scope of the review. Membrane-bound enzymes are dealt with by R B Freedman. Perhaps because of the nature of the subject this is a long chapter containing descriptions of many such systems. A good feature of the review is the discussion of the role played by the membrane itself in the structure and activity of these enzymes. The text, however, seems to lack cohesion, in part due to the variety of systems included, and one wonders whether some of the topics, eg proteins involved in the transport of membrane biosynthesis, might not have been transplanted into more relevant chapters and replaced by other enzymes. The final contribution, by G Warren, on the structure and assembly of membrane proteins takes a more unusual and hence refreshing framework for his discussion. The text is enjoyable to read though there is not the depth of detail required for a 'fundamental reference work'. The author raises many interesting questions which will certainly cause the uninitiated to think more deeply about membrane structure. The frustrating problem is that the answers are not yet apparent. Taken as a whole the volume is informative, well produced, well written and fairly interesting to read. It is not complete enough, incisive enough or sufficiently detailed to fulfil the stated aims of the publishers of providing a reference text for research workers in this field. It would be useful for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students. J B C Findlay
Immunobiology (Studies by C J Inchley. £2.50.
pp 82.
in Biology No. 128)
Edward Arnold, London. 1981. ISBN 0-7131-2808-9
This little book presents a biologist's rather than a chemist's or biochemist's view of the phenomenon of immunological reaction, as indeed the title indicates. The initial chapters deal with strategy and with the evolution of recognition mechanisms and range over many different species including invertebrates. A general description of the structure of antibodies is then given followed by a description of the lymphoid tissue. Later chapters deal with cell-mediated immunity, tolerance and allergies. The final chapter looks ahead to possible developments, eg in the fields of parasitic diseases, cancer and monoclonal antibodies. Clearly and concisely written with nice diagrams.
C l i n i c a l Chemistry by R Richterich and J P Colombo. pp 766. John Wiley, Chichester. 1981. £31.50. First English edition (4th German edition - Karger, Basel, 1978). ISBN 0-471-27809-2
Practical Clinical Biochemistry, Volume 1 by H Varley, A H Gowenlock and M Bell. pp 1277. Heinemann, London. 1980. Varley's book of Clinical Biochemistry, first published in 1954 and now in its fifth edition, is the mainstay of generations of British chemical pathologists and the pilot boat of those who would work at the 'mucky end' of biochemistry. It is therefore a bold challenge to publish, in English translation, a Swiss book which has been successful in four German editions. Richterich and Colombo's book is more modest in size (766 pages) than Varley, Gowenlock and Bell (1277 pages in Volume 1), although the topics covered are broadly equivalent. The Swiss text is more concise but essentially didactic: the presentation is uniformly clear and brief but there is a tendency towards dogmatism which may not be readily accepted by British students (for example, "All other results should be ignored", p 292). There are also a number of mistranslations which may be found confusing: eg 'endocrinopathia', 'hypothyrosis', 'haemiglobin', 'ostitis'. On the other hand, the presentation of principles of a variety of techniques is much more clearly expressed in the diagrams of Richterich and Colombo than in the text of Varley et al. Both books are comprehensive and their dominance of home markets is assured, but the timeliness of the Swiss book is perhaps impaired by the delay of the translation process. Varley et al is more up to date and comprehensive on such techniques as EMIT (though indexed wrongly), ELISA and automated methods. However, it is noticeable that both books have a relative paucity of recent references and this may reflect either a slow rate of change of the subject matter or, more likely, the length of time required to prepare the manuscripts for such large volumes. Unfortunately this has allowed some enshrined methods still to be included when they might with value be placed on a list with a 'government health warning'. Although both books have useful sections on quality control, all important to the running of a clinical laboratory, I found the description of the Swiss quality control system to be unnecessarily brief and in part confusing. Both have comprehensive sections on statistics. At a point much closer to the patient, both books describe techniques for the taking and storage of various samples, although the Swiss version is much clearer and it discusses in detail the role of the variety of anticoagulants. In contrast, the discussion by Richterich and Colombo of differential tests in diagnosis of liver disease is less than adequate for an understanding of the disease process and perhaps this is symptomatic of the Swiss book which is generally more concerned with methods than with interpretation of results. In summary, perhaps a fair description is that Richterich and Colombo have produced a comprehensive book in English concerned with laboratory clinical chemistry: for the biochemistry and chemical pathology one might still need to refer to Varley. N J Birch Department of Biological Science The Polytechnic, Wolverhampton
Membrane Structure Edited by J B Finean and R H Michell. pp 275. Elsevier/ North-Holland Biomedical Press, Amsterdam. 1980. Dfl 140. ISBN 0-444-80304-1 This volume is one of the first of a series entitled 'New Comprehensive Biochemistry' which presumably will attempt to cover in considerable detail major areas of biochemical research. In the publishers' words, it is intended to form a fundamental reference work in biochemistry. With those BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION
10(3) 1982
thoughts in mind it is a little surprising that volumes dealing with membrane structure (Vol 1) and membrane transport (Vol 2) should be the first produced. These are such quickly moving, not to mention controversial, areas that the publishers run the risk of being out of date without ever reaching the stage of being a 'fundamental reference work' - and I have to confess that there is evidence already of such a process occurring. The first chapter (by the editors Finean and Michell) gives a general overview of membrane structure and isolation together with a good potted history of the evolution of our current ideas. Although one wonders as to its necessity in such an advanced text, the authors nevertheless largely succeed. Already there are instances, however, of events and ideas overtaking the text. One hopes that this, rather than incomplete knowledge of the subject, is the explanation for some of the errors. Chapter 2 by M Edidin discusses the really novel feature of current concepts in membrane structure, namely fluidity. Methodological aspects are treated fairly thoroughly, but readably. Some readers may find, however, that the biological results and implications are perhaps not given their true weight. Membrane asymmetry is comprehensively described by J A F o p den Kamp. Both prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems are discussed and there are serious attempts to relate observations to the biology of the system. The specific instance of such asymmetry, glycosylation, is the subject of a balanced contribution by C Gamberg, who does not shirk from tackling the question of the true role for such processes. It is a pity that the biosynthetic aspects particularly as regard selection and control are considered to be outside the scope of the review. Membrane-bound enzymes are dealt with by R B Freedman. Perhaps because of the nature of the subject this is a long chapter containing descriptions of many such systems. A good feature of the review is the discussion of the role played by the membrane itself in the structure and activity of these enzymes. The text, however, seems to lack cohesion, in part due to the variety of systems included, and one wonders whether some of the topics, eg proteins involved in the transport of membrane biosynthesis, might not have been transplanted into more relevant chapters and replaced by other enzymes. The final contribution, by G Warren, on the structure and assembly of membrane proteins takes a more unusual and hence refreshing framework for his discussion. The text is enjoyable to read though there is not the depth of detail required for a 'fundamental reference work'. The author raises many interesting questions which will certainly cause the uninitiated to think more deeply about membrane structure. The frustrating problem is that the answers are not yet apparent. Taken as a whole the volume is informative, well produced, well written and fairly interesting to read. It is not complete enough, incisive enough or sufficiently detailed to fulfil the stated aims of the publishers of providing a reference text for research workers in this field. It would be useful for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students. J B C Findlay
Immunobiology (Studies by C J Inchley. £2.50.
pp 82.
in Biology No. 128)
Edward Arnold, London. 1981. ISBN 0-7131-2808-9
This little book presents a biologist's rather than a chemist's or biochemist's view of the phenomenon of immunological reaction, as indeed the title indicates. The initial chapters deal with strategy and with the evolution of recognition mechanisms and range over many different species including invertebrates. A general description of the structure of antibodies is then given followed by a description of the lymphoid tissue. Later chapters deal with cell-mediated immunity, tolerance and allergies. The final chapter looks ahead to possible developments, eg in the fields of parasitic diseases, cancer and monoclonal antibodies. Clearly and concisely written with nice diagrams.